Robert E. Lee's Orderly: A Modern Black Man's Confederate Journey

New Chapters:

History Lessons In Black & White

The Mystical Black Confederates

Meaningful Contact

A Black & White Letter to the Church

Al Arnold is a descendent of a slave, Turner Hall, Jr. "Uncle Turner," as he was known in his later years, served in the Confederate army as a body servant for two Confederate soldiers and an orderly for Robert

E. Lee. As a slave, Turner Hall, Jr. was owned by another prominent Civil War general, Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Al began researching his ancestor's life in 2008. At a family reunion, he saw a newspaper caption indicating his ancestor, Turner Hall, Jr. served Robert

E. Lee as an orderly in the Civil War. To Al's amaze- ment, his research found a proud Black Confederate who held both Civil War generals in high esteem, even well after the war. At the age of ninety-five, Turner Hall, Jr. cherished a gift from Nathan Bedford Forrest as one of his most treasured possessions.

Al was further intrigued that his great-great- grandfather was a celebrated man in his community of Hugo, Oklahoma. Blacks and Whites commemorated him as Hugo's "most distinguished citizen" as a result of his Civil War service. Turner Hall, Jr. lived to be a hundred and four years old. He attended the last Civil War reunion in 1938 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Newsreel cameramen captured him displaying his reunion medals as an example of the typical Black Confederate.

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In 1940, he was interviewed as a Black Con- federate by a nationwide talk radio show in New York City. Turner Hall, Jr. left a trail for his family that Al has uncovered. Al shares his personal journey into his Confederate heritage as a modern Black man. He makes a connection through the life of his ancestor and embraces the premises that history should unite us instead of divide us. He argues that African Americans dishonor their ancestors by attempting to destroy Confederate heritage and by neglecting the historical impact that slaves had on both sides of the Civil War. These are the honest thoughts of a modern Black man who has wrestled with his Confederate heritage while being a Black Christian man in America and who is connected to two famous Civil War generals.

About the Author
Arnold, Al: - Two years after his original book, Al writes a compelling prescription for racial divide from a Biblical view of Grace wrapped in his Black Confederate Heritage in his Extended addition. Arnold enhances his original work with further details about his ancestor and more of his perspective since the release of his first work on the matter of Grace, Race and Confederate Heritage. Al is a physical therapist that lives in Madison Mississippi. He grew up in the Northeast Mississippi region graduating from Shannon High School in 1986. Al lived in the small town of Verona during his youth years. He attended Jackson State University and graduated Magna Cum-Laude from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Physical Therapy in 1991. Al was voted most outstanding student by the faculty at UMMC and currently works in the home health industry in the Jackson metropolitan area. He came to the knowledge of his Confederate ancestor in 2008. He started to search for an understanding of why, how, what and when did his great-great grandfather serve during the Civil War. His journey has led him to embrace his Confederate heritage and the roles of slaves in the Civil War. He is a member of the Civil War Roundtable in Jackson, MS. He has a desire to see more African Americans study the Civil War and their connections to this vital part of America's history. To this aim, he has written this book. He believes the Civil War history is Black history. Al is married to his wife, Tamiko, of 24 years. They have three kids, AJ, Alden and Asa. As a ChristiaTwo Al holds firmly to faith in Jesus Christ alone as the only hope for humanity in salvation, forgiveness, oneness, and love. He is an ordained Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America where he attends a multi-ethnic church in Jackson, MS. Al loves Bluegrass and Country music. A country boy who loves backyard gardening, cooking, squirrel hunting, studying the Civil War, Church history and old people.James, Meredith: - James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is a Civil Rights Movement figure, writer, political adviser and Air Force veteran. In 1962, he became the first African-American student admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi, [1] after the intervention of the federal government, an event that was a flashpoint in the Civil Rights Movement. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address, Meredith decided to exercise his constitutional rights and apply to the University of Mississippi. His goal was to put pressure on the Kennedy administration to enforce civil rights for African Americans.